How to be Me
by Newbie Girl Writer
Summary: It wasn't easy being a male ballet dancer, especially when you were gay and an Uchiha to boot. Narusasu
1. Chapter 1

**How to be Me**

**Chapter 1**

This time, it was a combination of chalk screeching against the blackboard and loud buzzing noises coming from the class ventilators that woke Naruto from his daily, after-lunch nap.

"No, Baa-chan I swear I wasn't looking! I..." He frowned, realizing that he wasn't back at his old, childhood home in Manhattan anymore and that, to his relief, his adoptive grandmother was also no where in sight.

"Naruto, sit down! People are staring!" Sakura whispered next to him, ducking her head in embarrassment as the students around them began giggling and snickering quietly at the blonde's less than subtle antics.

"Well Mr. Uzumaki, it's nice of you to have finally decided on joining us today," Kakashi Hatake, the head of the film and media department at Konohagakure, smiled from behind his mask, his eyes crinkling in amusement. It was a stark contrast to the exasperated tone in his normally unperturbed voice.

"Heh, heh, you know what they say sensei, a growing boy needs his sleep right?" Naruto grinned sheepishly, his left hand coming up to rub at the back of his neck. It was a habit that he had picked up on as a child, and still reverted back to occasionally when he was in trouble.

"Hm, I would have believed that a last-year MA student would have been done growing up and maturing at least by his sophomore year, but I suppose there _are_ always exceptions." More snickers ensued at his professor's jibe, but Naruto merely grinned good-naturedly in response, having gotten used to his and Kakashi's daily banters during his freshman year of university.

"Now, moving on before Mr. Uzumaki has the chance to fall asleep on us again, I would like to end this class by giving all of you bright young minds your first major project of the semester." Kakashi paused at this, waiting for the collection of groans that followed to die down before continuing on.

"You'll be happy to know that this particular assignment however, is optional," he paused again at the whoops sounding from across the lecture hall followed by the occasional whistle from some of the more critically work-allergic students. "Of course, I'm sure that you'll all want to participate once you learn what the prize is."

This as he had predicted, got their attention quickly enough.

"What prize Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked, remembering to use the proper Japanese honorifics that her professor had requested all of his students to employ after recounting wistfully to them of his teenage years spent reading Icha-Icha Paradise in Tokyo.

"An excellent question Sakura. Well this year, the arts department at Konohagakure received some very exciting news from the higher-ups, and to put it briefly, one of you lucky hooligans will be given the otherwise unimaginable opportunity of showing off your short film at next year's annual Cannes Film Festival."

The silence that ensued after his announcement was almost unnerving.

"Holy shit, that's like a big deal right?" One poor TA sitting at the back of the class blurted out, unknowingly making himself a catalyst for the ensuing explosion of excitement and disbelief that could only be described as a mini apocalypse to rival all mini apocalypses.

"Oh wow...Cannes f-film fes...fest...I think I'm going into cardiac arrest..."

"Someone pinch me..."

"Motherfucking Cannes Film Festival...motherfucking CANNES FILM..."

"Sakura I love you! Please marry m-"

"I'm not that excited yet Lee."

* * *

"Hey Sakura, want to be on the production team working with the next greatest film director in Hollywood?" Naruto grinned down at his pink-haired best friend, already knowing what her answer would be. Sakura may have enjoyed film, but architecture was where she truly shined.

His friend for her part, made a show of thinking the request over. "That depends, do I get to be your plus-one if you win?"

"Definitely, I couldn't think of anyone else better suited to accompany the next greatest film director to Cannes than you." He gave her his best smile, flourishing his hands dramatically.

Sakura rolled her eyes. Naruto could be such a drama queen sometimes, but if she were to be absolutely honest with herself, there was no one else whom she believed deserved to go to Cannes more than him, and Sakura wasn't exaggerating either. Ever since she had first met the blonde back in third grade, his passion had been film. When asked what he had wanted to be when he grew up, the then pint-sized boy had declared in his screechy pre puberty-voice that he was going to be the greatest filmmaker in the entire world, a futile goal if Sakura had ever heard one. Now however, after witnessing Naruto grow over the past few years both physically and mentally, she was almost certain that he could be, if not the best in the world, then at least the best director in LA.

"Well since you put it so nicely," she smirked at his excited expression. Naruto knew she couldn't say no. "I'd love to be on the production team of the next greatest director in Hollywood. Do you have any ideas on what you plan on doing yet?"

"Oh, um, well no, not yet," Naruto grinned sheepishly. He had been so caught up over the prospect of putting together a new movie with the likelihood of being shown to some of the most prominent people in show business, that he had completely skipped out on the initial brainstorming process.

"Well, I'm sure you'll figure something out, let me know when you do alright? I want to get started on this project almost as much as you do." Sakura smiled reassuringly up at him.

"Yeah, don't worry, you can count on Naruto. Well, I'll see you at dinner tonight."

"Dinner?" Sakura blinked.

"Yes. Oh, didn't I tell you?" Naruto, if it was possible, grinned even wider. "We, my good friend, Sakura, are going to be celebrating the beginning of our final year at university. Just think, after we graduate, there'll be no more all nighters, no more drinking coffee and Red Bull at three a.m. in the morning, no more cramming for exams, no more late night ramen runs...well everything except that last part maybe. We'll be adults with jobs of our own. And I for one, believe that there is no better way of celebrating such an achievement than with a nice, warm bowl of beef ramen at Ichirak-hey! Ow! What was that for?"

"Naruto, I'm surprised that you're not dead yet with the truckloads of ramen you consume on a daily basis." Sakura rolled her eyes in exasperation. There was just no taming the endless black hole residing in Naruto's beast of a stomach.

"What can I say? There's like another person living inside of me or something." He grinned, rubbing his shoulder where Sakura had landed one of her infamous punches.

"A tape worm maybe? Anyway, I guess I'll see you tonight Naruto, seven o'clock, Ichiraku's. Since it was your idea, you're paying." Sakura blew her friend a kiss, ignoring his horrified expression, no doubt he was probably imagining worms crawling around in his stomach, before heading off to her next lecture.

When she was out of sight, Naruto released a tired sigh. He really needed to come up with an idea and fast if he wanted to start filming soon. He had toyed with the thought of a scripted movie, but somehow it didn't seem right for the occasion. A romance was too obvious. A comedy might work, but he had a feeling that the people at Cannes were probably looking for something with a more serious and original plot. Maybe the movie could be about...a ninja! A ninja who overcomes adversity to save his village from-

"Ridiculous," he muttered. Obviously he had been reading way too many of Kakashi-sensei's dirty, romance novels. He racked his brain for another idea, but itwas a hopeless endeavour. Right now, he had nothing that could be considered even remotely good enough to be made into a short film, much less one worthy of being shown at Cannes. Naruto wasn't worried though, he just had to be patient. Ideas were like apples hanging from a really tall tree. You couldn't just go up and grab them. You had to be patient and wait for them to drop down on you.

* * *

Sasuke did a quick stretch, touching his toes with the tips of his finger, loosening out the muscles of his legs. Today's practice had been particularly strenuous. Tsunade, his new ballet master, had been especially tough on him, being the novel dancer and all, making him do pirouette after pirouette until his toes had begun to ache. On top of that he was still jetlagged from his ten hour flight from Tokyo to Los Angeles.

All in all, he was more than ready to head back home and get some much needed sleep. With that thought in mind, he finished packing his duffel bag, exiting the studio and making a beeline for his apartment. It was a long walk, but he'd be damned if he ever used the subway again. He didn't consider himself a particularly claustrophobic person, but having spent the majority of his life being chauffeured around in a black Rolls Royce really wasn't helping his case.

Sasuke was more than a little unaccustomed to say the least, of the fast-moving train with its unmistakable urine scent. Standing up to his father had been one thing, but braving "the silent beast" as he had taken to calling the hunk of machinery, was an entirely new experience all together. For one thing, he hadn't been granted nearly twenty-four years to gather his courage and rationalize how best to go about handling such a dangerous motive of transportation. Honestly, the train moved far too fast in his opinion and there really should've been more security what with all the...colourful people that seemed to take refuge there.

But it was a matter of baby steps, he reasoned. So far, he had been doing well to stay afloat despite being cut off from his family...or more specifically, his father. The thought still left a bitter taste in his mouth, but he hadn't expected anything less. Uchiha Fugaku was his greatest idol, second only to his older brother. However, no matter what Sasuke did, he had never been able to please his father. That, along with his conflicting love for ballet, had been the bane of his childhood and teenage years, not that they still weren't a nuisance.

Now however, at least now he had a plan.

"Sasuke? Sasuke Uchiha?" He frowned upon hearing his name. He had only been in America for a little over a week and someone had already recognized the youngest member of the famous clan. Turning, he saw a tall blonde man walking towards him with a megawatt smile planted on his tanned face. He frowned, noticing the three distinctive scars situated on both of the stranger's cheeks. Those scars...those eyes...

"Naruto."

Before Sasuke could even comprehend what was happening, he was being swept off his feet in a tight, choke-inducing hug.

"So you do remember me bastard," Naruto grinned happily.

"Of course I do, how could anyone forget an idiot like you. Can you please put me down. Some of my vital organs are in the process of being squished here."

"Sorry, but it's been nearly five years since I last saw you. Heh, not much has changed has it?" Smirking, Naruto peered down at him superiorly, taking full advantage of their three inch height difference.

"Hn," Sasuke gave a nonchalant shrug, averting his eyes away from his childhood friend. Remembering what he had been doing before meeting the Uchiha, Naruto brightened, an idea forming in his head.

"Hey! I was just going to head down to Ichiraku's. You should come too, that is if you don't have anything else to do." Naruto smiled, talking a mile a minute. "Sakura'll be there too, you remember Sakura right? Pink hair, big forehead, the one who had the massive crush on you back in middle school, and high school too, now that I think about it. Gosh Sasuke, it's been so long and I'd love to talk. You gotta tell me about Tokyo, Kakashi-sensei says it's like the Paris of Japan..."

Naruto continued to speak energetically about anything and everything that came to mind, dragging Sasuke all the while to Ichiraku's. He smirked, Naruto really hadn't changed one bit from the hyperactive teenager that he had known almost all his life.

The dobe, for his part, kept up the lively chatter, more than thrilled at being able to talk with Sasuke again after so long.

It seemed that his apple had finally dropped.

.

.

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	2. Chapter 2

**How to be Me**

**Chapter 2**

Sakura huffed impatiently, checking her watch for the third time that night. It was a quarter past seven and Naruto still wasn't here. Normally, she wouldn't have minded so much, but the ramen stand really only had enough stools to hold about ten people at a time and she had asked Teuchi to save her friend a seat. Really didn't Naruto know anything about today's dying economy?

"Yo Sakura!" She sighed in relief, _about time._

"Naruto, what took you so long? I had to ask the owner to save you a seat, honestly it's-" She froze, noticing that there was someone behind her friend. "Whose that?"

Naruto grinned. "Sakura, you remember Sasuke right?" He turned to reveal the mystery person.

Sakura gaped, her mouth hanging wide open in a perfect imitation of a fish out of water.

Sasuke.

Uchiha Sasuke.

The boy whom she had been madly in love with for nearly half her life, almost to the point of obsession, was standing right in front of her. He looked just like how she had imagined he would at this age, his black hair still in its trademark "duck-butt style" as Naruto had dubbed it, and his eyes as intense as ever. After all this time, he was here. He was here. _He was here_ and...

"Sakura," Sasuke inclined his head politely in her direction.

...and she could already feel her cheeks beginning to burn.

"Sakura, hello? Earth to Sakura-chan. Oh crap, I think she's in shock," Naruto cried, grinning at Sasuke. "Things really haven't changed much, have they? It's just like the first time you guys met."

Sasuke merely rolled his eyes, taking a seat next to the pink-haired girl. Naruto grinned, following suit, glancing over at Sakura who had, in the mean time, managed to regain some of her composure.

"So Sasuke, what brings you to LA? Looking for some fame? Money? Sex?"

"Naruto!" Sakura blushed, mortified at what her friend was saying.

"Yes, actually. I've decided that I want to be a contestant on Wipe Out. I'm also currently having a carnal affair with Lindsay Lohan. Tonight, we were planning on having some hot, magical sex," Sasuke replied nonchalantly.

Honestly, her jaw was going to dislocate. Sakura turned in mute horror towards Sasuke who hadn't even bothered to look up, choosing instead to focuse his attention on the ramen in front of him. He was obviously joking, but when did Uchiha Sasuke ever joke?

Naruto on the other hand, didn't seem the slightest bit perturbed by Sasuke's unique sense of humour. "Hahaha, my insides are dying! You should totally be a comedian Sasuke! But no seriously, what're you doing out here? Last I heard, the Uchihas were proclaiming their undying love for Japan at some tsunami fundraiser."

Sakura looked over at Sasuke, curious as well. She had been heartbroken when his family had decided to move back to Tokyo. To see him again and in Los Angeles of all places, was more than a little shocking.

Her friend took his time answering, settling his chopsticks on the counter before looking back up at his two companions.

"Just some minor business. My father was interested in starting a partnership with some company here and he sent me as a representative."

"That's great Sasuke! It sounds like something major. Your dad's really starting to depend on you isn't he?" Sakura beamed, remembering how hard Sasuke had worked when they were younger in order to obtain his father's approval.

"Yeah, congrats Sasuke." Naruto nodded.

Sasuke shrugged, focusing his attention back on his meal. "It's not that big of a deal really. I mean anyone in the clan could've done this, heck even uncle Tobi could've done it."

"Aw, when did you get so humble, bastard?" Naruto grinned. "This is amazing. I know how much you wanted to work at the company with your dad. It's a big deal! A huge deal! I say we have a toast. To Sasuke!" He raised his ramen cup into the air.

"To Sasuke," Sakura chimed in happily.

After awhile, they focused their attention back on the silent Uchiha who had since then, stopped picking at his noodles and was now currently staring holes into his cup.

"Sasuke?" Naruto called tentatively.

"Like I said, it's just a small venture. Besides it's not like my father cares anyway."

The atmosphere turned sour then. She felt a blush beginning to form on her cheeks from the mortification of what they'd done.

"It's getting late. I better get going." Sasuke stood abruptly, breaking the awkward silence while placing a handful of paper bills on the counter.

Sakura stared dumbfounded as he left the stand. It was shocking how quickly the mood had changed in a span of a few seconds.

She knew that she should do something.

She _had _to do something.

She _was_ _going_ to do something...

...but she didn't have the nerve to go after him. After all this time, she was still too chicken to go after Sasuke.

"Hey Sakura." She turned, watching Naruto staring after the distant figure. "Sorry, but I'm afraid we're going to have to cut our little party short, you know how he can get when he's being broody."

With that, Naruto took off after the Uchiha, leaving her sitting alone on the uncomfortable stool with an odd sense of déjà vu.

She should follow him, but somehow she had a feeling that her presence was both unwanted and unwarranted. Sakura sighed, berating herself for her cowardly behaviour. She had been one of Sasuke's closest friends back when they were younger, an amazing feat in itself, given the level of effort the Uchiha had dedicated to being anti-social. However, despite that, no matter how hard she had tried in middle school to get past being just friends, nothing had happened. He had treated her with gracious courteousness. He had even done little things as a friend for her that she would always be immensely grateful for. However his indifference to her feelings had been a hard blow on her self-esteem. She had slowly become more timid around him. By high school, she had been stumbling over her words and berating herself for her foolish behaviour every time they had spoken with one another. He had been her first love after all, her only love to be honest, given how things had ended the first time. Her love for him, it couldn't have been for nothing, could it?

For the first time in five years, Sakura resolved to get closer to Sasuke Uchiha.

* * *

He had managed to put a good chunk of distance between himself and the ramen stand by the time Naruto had caught up with him. However, instead of barraging him with questions as he had expected, the blonde had kept his mouth shut, choosing to remain silent while walking next to the Uchiha. They had managed to get about halfway to his apartment before Naruto finally decided to talk.

"So, you mind telling me what's gotten your feathers so ruffled?" He asked, crossing his arms behind his head.

"The usual. My clan, my parents, my father." Sasuke shrugged, averting his eyes.

"The usual huh? You usually don't get so rattled up by the usual. Tell me, what's really going on, Sasuke?"

"Naruto, has it ever occurred to you that maybe I'm just tired of the usual problems?" He stopped walking, turning to face his companion.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, confused.

Sasuke sighed, pinching his nose. "It's like what you said Naruto. It's been years, but _nothing_ has changed. My father still treats me like I'm the bane of his existence and no matter what I do, he never gives me the time of day. He's too busy focusing on my brother. It's always _Itachi this_ and _Itachi that,_ and _oh Sasuke, why can't you be more like Itachi_? I love my brother, I really do, but I don't know how much longer I can take playing second fiddle."

"Sasuke..."

"Save your pity. I didn't ask for it and I certainly don't want it, not now anyways."

"Sasuke, your father's just looking out for you. Besides, Itachi's older, obviously your dad's going to expect more from him. You shouldn't let him rule your life like this, just give it some time, I'm sure he'll c-"

"Come around? Is that what you were going to say?" Sasuke let out a dry laugh. "Naruto, you just don't get it do you? He'll never come around, not now, not ever! He didn't come around when I brought home my first perfect report card. He didn't come around when I graduated top of my class and he most definitely didn't come around when I got into Kyoto! And do you know why?"

"Sasuke-"

"It's because Itachi already did all those things and better than I ever could too. Don't you see? I have to make a name for myself or he's never going to see me. That's why I decided to move to Los Angeles. I need to show my father that I'm worthy of being an Uchiha."

He felt himself deflating as he continued to talk. Pouring out your feelings was more than just a little exhausting. It was a testament to how far he had strayed from his family in the past month. The old Sasuke would have rather been found dead than caught pouring out his life's worries to a blonde idiot who he hadn't seen since high school.

"It was nice seeing you, Naruto. Maybe I'll talk to you again some other time." He sighed, having not even realized that they had already reached his apartment.

"_Sasuke._" Something in his voice made him turn.

"You know you're worth your weight in gold, right Sasuke?"

He sighed in exasperation. "Isn't that from a song dobe?"

"But it's true Uchiha. Why can't you get it through your thick skull that life's not all about making your dad happy. Don't you want to be happy Sasuke? Everything you've accomplished thus far, have only ever been done for your clan. Everything you used to love doing became a source of anxiety and frustration because of your father. He's sucking the life out of you, why can't you see it DAMMNIT?"

He froze at the level of intensity in Naruto's voice.

"You can't say that."

"What?" Naruto looked at him, confused.

"You can't say that," Sasuke repeated. "You don't have the right to say anything about my family and especially not my father. How could you possibly even begin to understand? You're an orphan Naruto, you never had a family to begin with. No one's ever expected anything from you. You have no right to dictate how I should live my life because you don't know anything about it!"

He turned before he could lose it and reveal something that he hadn't meant to. White hot rage directing him through the door and up the elevator to his room. It was only then that he let himself loose, throwing the burdensome duffel bag to the floor and punching his bedroom wall repeatedly in frustration.

_What was happening to him?_

_._

_._

_._

_._


End file.
